 |
| Spot robot getting self-charging feature |
Boston Dynamics' robotic dogs are becoming increasingly autonomous as the company announced the introduction of the Spot Robot, a new version of the robot that features a charging dock to fill the battery without human intervention.
Robots also launched Scout, a new browser-based control system that provides an enhanced interface for the instant Internet experience. It also features a new robotic arm that robots can use to grasp, lift, move, place and pull various objects.
Boston Dynamics announced in June that it would offer Spot Explorer robots to any company that could afford $ 74,500, and has since launched these new features.
There are currently more than 400 localized robots around the world, the company said. Robots have successfully performed dangerous tasks in a variety of harsh environments such as nuclear power plants, offshore oil fields, construction sites and mines.
Clients benefit from Spot's mobility, independence, control, and customization to improve operational efficiency, increase employee safety, and collect critical data.
With the new product from Spot, customers can conduct comprehensive, independent and continuous data collection from network access locations to remote or hazardous workplaces of all sizes.
In many industries, the location where the customer's main equipment is located is severely understaffed and it can take many hours for someone to be dispatched to check relatively simple things.
These customers must have the robot there at all times so that the appropriate people monitoring the alarm or performing routine inspections can call the robot.
Boston Dynamics' Web Scout software is part of an effort to simplify remote control. Once incorporated into a Scout robotic arm, the robot must be able to perform tasks such as operating valves, levers, or rotating handles.
Scout can be used with the company's existing Spot Explorer and new Spot Enterprise robots.
While the new robot also contains other improvements such as: for example, a more powerful processor which will be able to run more advanced independent algorithms in the future, the automatic download function is the most important new feature.
Although Spot Explorer's current battery life is around 90 minutes, the new Spot Enterprise robot can live indefinitely in remote locations with charging stations.
In combination with Scout, we hope companies can use Spot as an alternative way to send people to remote locations.
When the robot is close enough to the charging station, Spot can position itself in contact with the charging port on the carrier.
The player also has a wired internet connection which allows for faster and more reliable downloading of sensor data collected by Spot.
The system uses Boston Dynamics Server installed on the same LAN as the bot to process data, compress it, and then transmit it over the Internet.